Clays are geomaterials used in various (over 100) applications in our society. The more common geotechnical applications are clay barriers to contain waste, slurry walls etc. But even if clays are not used as construction material, the engineering geologist encounters them frequently during construction of e.g. foundations and tunnels. As clays are end products of the weathering of silicate geomaterials they are stable as such, but within this group of clay minerals, geotechnical properties vary enormously. Some of these variations are due to chemo-plasticity e.g. reflected in the effect of the composition of the pore fluid on the mechanical properties of clay. One approach to deal with these chemo plastic effects is to separate them according to the scale or level on which they are acting. In clays one can discern the level of the clay silicate sheets (TOT or TO), the clay interlayer level and the clay particles level. This contribution aims to show how an analysis of the processes on these three levels can help to assess the geotechnical properties of clays in contact with various fluids.